Page 32 - The Ashley Book of Knots
P. 32
ON KNOTS
103. Yam: Is a number of fibers twisted together, "right-handed."
Thread: In ropemakin is the same as yarn.
104. Sewing threa : May be two, three, or more small yams IOf,
twisted to ether. Sailmaker's sewing thread: Consists of a number of 101
cotton or inen ams loose-twisted and is often called sewing twine.
105. Strand: s two or more yarns or threads twisted together,
generally left-handed.
106. Rope: Is three or more left-handed strands twisted together,
right-handed, called plain-laid rope.
107. Hawser: Large plain-laid rope generally over 5" in circumfer-
ence is called hawser-laid.
108. Cable or cable-laid rope: Three lain- or hawser-laid ropes
103
laid up together, left-handed; also calle water-laid because it was
presumed to be less pervious to moisture than plain-laid rope. Four- '01-
strand cable has been used for stays.
109. Four-strand rope: Right-handed, is used for lanyards, bucket
bails, manropes, and sometimes for the running rigging of yachts.
110. Shroud-laid rope: Right-handed, four strands with a center
core or heart (formerly termed a goke) was used for standing
rigging before the days of wire rope. The heart is of plain-laid rope
about half the size of one of the strands.
111. Six-strand rope: Right-handed with a heart, very hard-laid, ,05
was formerly used for tiller rope. The best was made of hide.
Six-strand "limber rope" was formerly laid along a keel and used
10&
to clear the limbers when they became clogged. It was made of horse-
hair, which resists moisture and decay better than vegetable fiber.
Nowadays six-strand rope with wire cores in each strand is made
for mooring cable and buoy ropes for small craft. 109
112. Backhanded or reverse-laid rope: In this material the yams
and the strands are both right-handed. It may be either three- or
four-strand and is more pliant than plain-laid rope and less liable to
kink when new, but it does not wear so well, is difficult to splice, 110
and takes up moisture readily. Formerly it was used in the Navy for
gun tackle and braces. Nowadays (in cotton) it is sometimes used for
yacht running rigging. Lang-laid wire t:"ope is somewhat similar in
structure.
113. Left-handed or left-laid rope: The yams are left-handed, the II.
strands are right-handed, and the rope left-handed, the direct op-
osite of right-handed rope. Coupled with a right-handed or plain-
aid rope of equal size, this is now used in roping seines and nets. The ,
opposite twists compensate, so that wet seines have no tendency to
twist and roll up at the edges.
In ropemaking, strictI speaking, yams are "spun," strands are
"formed," ropes are "lai ," and cables are "closed," but these terms
are often used indiscriminately.
Formerly plain-laid and hawser-laid meant the same thing. Now
the term hawser-laid refers only to large plain-laid ropes suitable for
towing, warping, and mooring.
It is a common mistake of recent years to use the terms hawser-
/aid and cable-laid interchangeably. This leaves two totally different
products without distinguishing names, and it is no longer certain
when either name is applied just what thing is referred to.
